Spinach Gratin is a cheesy, tasty side dish recipe perfect for holidays and fall dinners. Also known as Creamed Spinach Casserole, this is an easy way to get all of the health benefits of spinach in a simple dish. Spinach, cheese, cream, and seasonings are all mixed together to create a deliciously baked dish, and the bread crumb topping adds the perfect texture!
Spinach Gratin – Creamed Spinach Casserole
Spinach Gratin (or Creamed Spinach Casserole) is the perfect holiday side dish. It’s filled with healthy spinach AND lots of tasty cheese!
This Spinach Gratin recipe is just so good on so many levels. It’s not often that you’ll hear people asking for more spinach, but with this Creamed Spinach Casserole, everyone will want a second helping!
Spinach, cheese, cream, and more are mixed together into a casserole dish and topped with a cheesy bread crumb blend. This adds texture to the creamed spinach beneath, and all bakes together into a hot and bubbly spinach casserole that I just can’t get enough of.
This is the perfect side dish to serve for the holidays. It’s got healthy greens at its base, but it’s covered with cheese to make it extra delicious. That combo screams Thanksgiving to me! It fits right in with turkey, stuffing, green beans, and more. Scoop a big helping of this onto your plate and enjoy! Everyone around the table will be loving it too.
This Cheesy Spinach Gratin is the perfect holiday side dish. Make Creamed Spinach Casserole for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any fall dinner!
How to Make Creamed Spinach Casserole
Cheesy Spinach Gratin is an easy side dish recipe to make for any meal. It just requires mixing a few things together and letting it bake into a hot and cheesy casserole.
How to Make Creamed Spinach Casserole:
- Before starting, set the frozen spinach out to thaw (or let it thaw in the refrigerator)
- Start by making the bread crumb topping (as instructed below) and set aside
- Squeeze all water out of the thawed spinach
- Melt butter in a large skillet, add onions, and cook 8-10 minutes
- Sprinkle flour & nutmeg over onions and cook 2 more minutes
- Reduce heat, add milk & cream, and stir continuously to thicken the mixture
- Stir in the spinach
- Add Parmesan, salt & pepper, & red pepper flakes, and mix
- Transfer the creamed spinach mixture to the baking dish, and top with bread crumbs & remaining cheese
- Baked spinach gratin for 20 minutes at 425°F
The creamed spinach casserole should come out hot and bubbly! See the recipe card below for full instructions. And watch the video to see the step by step process.
Holiday Side Dish Recipes
I’ve shared a lot of holiday recipes here, but there is ALWAYS room for a new holiday side dish on the table. As much as I like to make the same top Thanksgiving dishes every year, it’s nice to add in different recipes to change things up. And I’m always looking for different sides to serve for Christmas dinner.
This Creamed Spinach Casserole was MADE for the holidays. At the base is spinach, a healthy, leafy green that we should all probably eat more of. But it’s mixed with cream and cheese, topped with bread crumbs, and baked into a hot and bubbly casserole. Did I mention it’s cheesy? That combination just calls out to me on the holidays, when I want my vegetables, but covered in something super tasty.
Here are a few more of my favorite holiday side dishes:
- Honey Glazed Carrots with Ginger
- Homemade Crescent Rolls with Honey Butter
- Sauteed Green Beans
- Creamed Corn Recipe
- Cheesy Mashed Potatoes with Bacon & Goat Cheese
This Cheesy Spinach Gratin is just too good not to make! Cheesy, creamy, filled with HEALTHY spinach, and topped with cheesy bread crumbs to add the perfect texture. There’s so much to love about this Creamed Spinach Casserole recipe. Make it for any holiday or just on a nice fall night when you’re looking for a side dish for dinner.
Watch the Video and See the recipe card below for details on how to make Creamed Spinach Casserole. Enjoy!
If you like this creamed spinach casserole, try these other spinach-filled recipes:
- Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast
- Creamed Spinach with Toasted Almonds
- Parmesan Spinach Dip Crostini
- Crock Pot Skinny Parmesan Spinach Dip
- Green Detox Smoothie
Spinach Gratin - Creamed Spinach Casserole
Ingredients
For the Bread Crumb Topping:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese good quality
For the Gratin:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 medium sweet yellow onion chopped
- 30 ounces frozen spinach thawed
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup half ‘n half or whole milk
- 4½ teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ cup grated Parmesan good quality
- ½ cup grated Gruyere cheese
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
For the Bread Crumb Topping:
- Melt the butter in a medium, microwavable bowl, remove and let the butter cool but not harden.
- In a food processor, pulse 4 slices bread (dry is best) until the crumbs are between the size of sand and small gravel. If the breadcrumbs are too moist, spread them out onto a rimmed baking sheet and place in a preheated 300°F oven for 5-10 minutes. The crumbs should be dry but not cooked at all since they will brown with the gratin. Watch closely.
- Combine the melted butter, dry breadcrumbs and Parmesan; set aside.
For the Gratin:
- Heat oven to 425°F and spray a 1½ quart gratin or baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Squeeze all excess water from the thawed spinach, being sure almost all the water is removed.
- Heat a large skillet and add the oil and butter over medium heat. When butter quits bubbling, add the onions and cook 7-9 minutes until they translucent and tender.
- Sprinkle the sautéed onions with the flour and nutmeg and cook 2 more minutes, stirring continuously.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add the cream and half ‘n half (or milk). Stir constantly until mixture thickens.
- Add the spinach (after squeezing out all excess water) and stir.
- Add ¼ cup Parmesan, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Mix well.
- Transfer the spinach mixture to the prepared dish and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup Parmesan and the Gruyere.
- Bake the gratin at 425°F, for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the top with the crumb topping and bake an additional 10 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
- Enjoy!
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Nutrition Information
Can I use a bag of fresh spinach?!?
Absolutely!
Everyone loves this recipe!
That makes my heart so happy!
Hi can this recipe be make ahead? Like a night before????????
Yes, absolutely!!
Lovely recipe! Question, what are the two tablespoons of oil for?
M
Oil & Butter mix in fry pan to start all.